Frost predicted for this week!

I just got an email from the weather center in Grand Rapids that said our first frost of the season is expected Thursday or Friday.

It’s too soon!

By the time you read this I guess we will all know for sure. It’s hard to believe with the sun blazing down and the thermometer hovering around 86 degrees like it is today (Monday).

Cooler weather always seems to arrive too early, although according to the information sent in the email, the average date for a first frost in Evart is September 12.

Already the trees are starting to turn. I saw a mostly red and absolutely beautiful maple on Surrey Road this morning on my way to an interview. The fields are full of goldenrod (or wild mustard) and the fall flowers are coming on.

Guess it is time to think about fall again.

This season can really sneak up on you. First there’s just a trace, like a branch of color here and there. That gets you started looking for other signs. You can almost feel the colors getting ready to change. One morning we will wake up and nearly all the trees will be decked out in glorious reds, oranges and yellows, some so bright they almost hurt your eyes to look. I believe fall colors glow almost like they are providing their own light.

No matter how carefully I watch for it, when that fall color really bursts on us, it seems to be a surprise. Every year I think this is the most beautiful it has ever been and I will be sure to remember it, but after they are gone, the memory seems to fade away too.

The first things I always notice, besides the goldenrod, are the birds. Jack told me he saw a huge flock, in a Vee Sunday morning. They are putting their traveling groups together for the long trip south.

The hummingbirds are still here, at least they were today, as evidenced by their attempts to get Jack’s attention since the feeder was empty. So he filled it one more time. I’m expecting them to leave for their own journey south anytime.

The other feathered “freeloaders” are still around too. There’s so much to eat around the area you would think they wouldn’t be haunting those feeders, but I guess those seeds are just too good to pass up.

It has been cooler in the evenings, nice sleeping weather and we have been leaving the sliding door open a bit. It’s not very quiet out there though, since the crickets has been singing up a storm for most of the night.

This time of year, if you get outside after dark you find that the sky is crystal clear and the stars are really beautiful. It’s not a bit like those hazy skies of summer.

In the fields, the corn looks like it’s ready for harvest and the roadside stands are just full of yummy stuff. We’ve been eating loads of fresh produce lately.

The harvest always seems to signal the end of fall and the true beginning of the long winter months. I just hope we have a few more weeks of this beautiful weather before it happens.